Leaving Helsinki

Had a wonderful short trip in Helsinki. Was mostly work, although I did get to stroll through the City center in the dark. People often think that the Finnish and Estonians are a closed and cold people, but when you have gained their trust, they can be the warmest friends you could have. Possibly its because they live in cold climes, but its mostly a reflection of their history.

Estonia was caught on the wrong side of history for 50 years. A false line drawn by FDR, Stalin and Churchill at the close of WWII as a concession that turned a Scandinavian people into a Soviet colony. Actually, Estonia's history is marked as being between world powers with the fact that despite their roots as a people extend further back than almost any other culture (5,000 years), they have been occupied by the Russians, Germans, Swedes, Lithuanians repetitively. It will take years before the physchological impact of living within a system that turns even family members against each other. But there is a certain modesty that perhaps precedes the extension of trust that many cultures can learn from. Before regaining their independence, many hacked together antennas to receive Finnish TV signals, so when they had an opportunity for capitalism they knew what they wanted.

Finland had its own shocks to deal with. They have had to live with the threat of Soviet invasion during the same period, but also had to cede territory and war debt that burdened the economy. This burden forced significant changes from what was an agricultural nation into an industrial and now information age state. They had to develop their own military capabilities in absence of of explicit defense by the West. Today both nations require military service, mostly training they call a "walk in the woods," that has luckily remained peaceful.

Both nations have glommed on to technology as a path for the future and have some of the highest rates of internet and mobile penetration in the world. Again, this may be because its so cold. The view technology as a social mechanism to bring people together on dark nights and days.

Its an odd time to visit, even my wife from Estonia passed on the trip. Not just because of the weather, but because people have a yearly mood cycle that gets worse until Christmas and peaks on mid-summer's day. I am unsure what my brief trip to Tallinn, where I once called home, holds for me. But I am already awash with strong feelings as I recall the things I loved.

Perhaps the most disturbing scientific discovery I learned of this year makes me fear memories. Every time you recall the past you rewrite it, layering on some impressions from your current context. I treasure my memories, but oddly feel that when I use them I may loose as much as I gain. Sometimes I find myself even hesitating to take pictures as they frame what I will be able to recall so vividly.

Now neurotechnologies hold the distant promise of being able to have perfect memory. This of course may be undesireable, specifically if it is not able to block out memories of pain as a side effect, which is a wonderful attribute of how the mind works. But as the cognitive capability extends itself, the emotive capacity to process it needs to evolve as well.

For now, I'll risk my memories with fresh experience. Its been far too long.